The Faculty of Medicine
of the University of Hong Kong will be named after Mr. Li Ka-shing, who donated
$1 billion to the university last month. This "unprecedented" move
aroused much controversy amongst the profession, particularly, amongst the faculty
alumni. In view of that, the Council of the Hong Kong Medical Association decided
to survey the opinion of the membership on this issue earlier this month. A
total of 6,211 questionnaires were mailed to all members 2 weeks ago. By 5p.m.
today, 838 questionnaires were received, making a respond rate of 13.5%. Comparing
with an earlier survey held last month about the Chief Executive election of
the HKSAR, in which the respond rate was 9.8%, this response rate was even higher.

The first question asked whether
respondents graduated from the HKU Medical School. 624 (74%) gave an affirmative
answer, while 207 (25%) said no and 1% of respondents did not give any answer.

The second question was directly
asking respondents whether they supported the move to rename the Faculty of
Medicine of the University of Hong Kong after Mr. Li Ka-shing. 163 (19%) supported
the move while 612 (74%) were against it. 60 (7%) remained neutral and 3 did
not give an answer.

The survey result indicated that
members are concerned about the renaming issue, comparable if not surpassing
the importance of the Chief Executive election, irrespective of whether they
are graduates from the University of Hong Kong. The message is clear: The majority
is against the renaming of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong
Kong.

***

Notes to
editors :
The Hong Kong Medical Association, founded in 1920, aims to bring together the
government and the institutional, university and private medical practitioners
of Hong Kong for an effective exchange of views and co-ordination of efforts.
The foremost objective of the Association is to safeguard and promote the health
of the people of Hong Kong. The Association speaks collectively for its members
and aims at keeping its members abreast of medical ethics, issues and advances
around the world. In fulfilling these goals, the Association hopes to better
serve the people of Hong Kong.